JFRS Association Employment Tribunal correspondence (FOI)

Request

Please could you make available to me any documentation, letter, email or hardcopy correspondence to which the following individuals are party:

• Jonathan Donovan

• Mark Littler

• Len Norman

• Tracey Vallois

Please search for the period 1 July 2017 to date using the Key Words:

• James Goudie QC

• James Goudie

• SJFRS Employment Tribunal

• NISA

• Non Impairment of Service Agreement

Response

A search was performed using the Government of Jersey’s email archiving system for emails sent or received by the four individuals named in the request. The search has been performed using the following keywords:

• Goudie

• SJFRS Employment Tribunal

• Non Impairment of Service Agreement

Attached are relevant emails retrieved from the Government of Jersey’s email archiving system that fall within the above parameters. Emails have been removed where exemptions apply (details below). Redactions have also been applied to the emails provided where required.

Jonathan Donovan

Mark Littler

Tracy Vallois

A search was also undertaken using the keyword “NISA”. This search resulted in 575 emails.

In excess of six hours had, at the point of search, already been spent processing this request and it was estimated that to complete work on retrieval and review of emails including the keyword NISA would exceed the 12.5 working hour limit of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 and Regulations. This keyword search, therefore, will not be processed further.

The named individuals confirmed that they held no hardcopy documentation or correspondence which fell in scope of the request.

Exemptions applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

Article 25 is an absolute exemption and has been applied to personal data, including the redaction of details of staff below a certain civil servant grade who therefore have a legitimate expectation of privacy.

Article 31 Advice by the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff or a Law Officer

Information is qualified exempt information if it is or relates to the provision of advice by the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff or the Attorney General or the Solicitor General.

Article 32 Legal professional privilege

Information is qualified exempt information if it is information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Public Interest Test

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) is withholding the release of certain emails under Articles 31 and 32. Articles 31 and 32 are qualified exemptions, which means that a public interest test is required to be undertaken by the SPA. It is therefore necessary for the SPA to examine the circumstances of the case. The underlying purpose of the confidentiality inherent within Article 31 and 32 is to protect fully informed decision making by allowing government to seek legal advice in private, without fear of any adverse inferences being drawn from the content of the advice. It ensures that government is neither discouraged from seeking advice in appropriate cases, nor pressured to seek advice in inappropriate cases.

Following assessment the SPA has to decide whether, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. Although there is a need for transparency and accountability by public authorities, the public interest does not outweigh the SPA’s requirements to maintain legal professional and Law Officer privilege respectively.

Additional article referenced

Article 16 A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations.

Regulation 2 (1) of the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014 allows an authority to refuse a request for information where the estimated cost of dealing with the request would exceed the specified amount of the cost limit of £500. This is the estimated cost of one person spending 12.5 working hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

The work required to finish the processing of your request in order to extract the relevant information includes review of all emails, elimination of duplicates and removal of any/all emails that are not relevant to your request. This would also include work required in the identification of those emails that have attachments and re-locating these from the backup system so they can be extracted and included.